The 49ers’ Anquan Boldin, with 63 career playoff catches, is moving into Hall of Fame territory

Just was casually going through the 49ers roster for future story ideas–say, if we’re going to be writing them for another few weeks–and I started focusing on one point about WR Anquan Boldin:

Is he possibly on a Hall of Fame path?

-First thought: Probably not, because Boldin hasn’t really ever been thought of as one of the top 4 or 5 WRs in the league, at any point of his career.

Evidence: Zero first-team All-Pro nods, and you can’t argue that he should’ve made it ahead of, say, Calvin Johnson or Marvin Harrison at any particular point.

-Second thought: Hmm, let’s take a look at those playoff stats before I make any rash conclusions on Boldin’s HOF worthiness…

And the result…

Boldin–already 16th in career playoff receptions with 63, tied with Cris Carter and Roger Craig.–has a better shot at Canton than I originally thought.

This is based largely on his postseason success (his 980 postseason receiving yards currently puts him 12th all-time) and on assumptions he can and will continue it a few more games and maybe a few more years with the 49ers or some other very good team.

Large assumptions, but the way Boldin is playing now, certainly not impossible.

Clearly, Super Bowl success really, really helps any player–especially wide receivers and QBs–when they come up for Hall of Fame eligibility and sometimes having it or not seems to be the difference between very close HOF competitors in any election….

And I think Boldin, at 33, finishing his 11th NFL season and already with a nice resume, will start to get into the Canton conversation if he’s a major contributor to the 49ers winning the Super Bowl in three weeks.

Remember, Boldin was a key producer in Baltimore’s Super Bowl title run last season (he had 6 catches for 104 yards and a TD vs. the 49ers in the Supe), and ask Joe Flacco how much he missed him this season, after Boldin was traded to the 49ers.

Boldin also was with Arizona when it made it to the Super Bowl after the 2008 season, and lost to Pittsburgh. (Boldin had 8 catches for 84 yards in the Super Bowl), which makes it two total SB appearances and Boldin soon could make it three SB appearances and possibly two victories.

That could put him in some rare territory in the universe of receivers who have put up big regular-season numbers, too.

The Boldin career snapshot:

* He has made three Pro Bowl teams (all with Arizona, after the 2003, 2006 and 2008 seasons).

Generally, if Boldin could get up to 1,000 regular-season catches, which he should do easily with two more healthy years (he had 85 this season), that would get him into the Isaac Bruce/Hines Ward territory and above guys like Derek Mason (943), Art Monk (940 and a HOF-er) and Torry Holt (920).

I think he’ll also deserve and get much HOF credit for being an acknowledged team leader… in Arizona, Baltimore and now with the 49ers–he was voted 2013 team MVP–on a squad loaded with potential HOF talent, I might add.

Boldin will need more numbers, though, and more success, to get into serious HOF territory. Starting Sunday.

–There are lots of receivers with big numbers in this era, many of whom have taken a long time getting into Canton or haven’t made it at all.

Cris Carter just made it after a several-year wait (huge stats, no Super Bowl title)… and Andre Reed (big stats, no Super Bowl title) and Tim Brown (big stats, no Super Bowl title) keep getting close but haven’t yet gotten over the threshold.

Marvin Harrison (8 Pro Bowls, 3 first-time All-Pros, 3rd all-time in receptions) is up this year and should make it.

Hines Ward and Isaac Bruce are coming up soon…

Randy Moss and Terrell Owens coming up for discussion, too, in a few years…

And then there’s also Larry Fitzgerald (7 Pro Bowls, 1 first-team All-Pro), Reggie Wayne (6 Pro Bowls, 1 first-team All-Pro), Calvin Johnson (4 Pro Bowls, 3 first-team All-Pros) and Andre Johnson (7 Pro Bowls, 2 first-team All-Pros)… all also general contemporaries of Boldin and would seem to be ahead of him in any HOF comparison.
Here’s a good case study for the Boldin HOF conversation: Wes Welker (32 years old, 5 Pro Bowls, 2 first-team All-Pros, 2 trips to the Super Bowl, a chance to win his first Super Bowl ring this season with Denver).

Welker will be coming up for eligibility probably right around Boldin’s time, since they both probably have at least 2 or 3 prime seasons left, and you’ve got to figure that if their stats are similar (Welker’s regular-season stats are a tick behind Boldin’s, Welker has more playoff catches but fewer yards)…

Super Bowls are biiig tie-breakers in HOF discussion.

And of all those retired guys I mentioned who aren’t in yet, only Harrison, Ward and Bruce have Super Bowl rings… and only Ward has two of them, from Pittsburgh’s wins after the 2005 and 2008 seasons. (Ward also was MVP of Super Bowl XL.)

So far, Boldin’s career has so far paralleled what Ward did, pretty closely.

—Ward/

-1,000 regular-season catches for 12,083 yards and 85 TDs. /Ahead of Boldin in both categories, but the catches are definitely reachable.

-One Super Bowl loss/ Boldin has one SB loss.
-Considered a team leader/ Boldin has always been considered a quiet leader.
Yes, these are VERY comparable careers, especially if Boldin can get register one more Super Bowl title and a few more healthy seasons.

We’ll see what happens with Ward’s HOF candidacy when he’s eligible in 2017; it could be a very good model for what happens to Boldin a few years after that.

He’s already in the discussion, by the way.

* Here are the ACTIVE LEADERS in the postseason receptions, including Boldin’s 22 catches in four games last postseason and has his 11 so far in two games this postseason/

The league is changing so much so that it will be harder for receivers to get in. Vernon Davis has a much better shot, in my opinion…

ssclesq

Somehow I envision a Ronnie Lott type game from boldin. Not that he is just tough and smart, we know that about boldin ( absolutely must resign) but Ronnie would brood and remember when he was disrespected. I think boldin is looking for payback for the last 2 Seattle games. If vd and Crabtree and gore get going, I see boldin catching and dishing a lot of pain on Seattle. Go 49ers!

Bigmouth

And anyone could have had him for a sixth-round pick!

Route246

He is a shoe-in. Steps up for when the big game is on the line, money player, great hands, great teammate and locker room guy, good family man, respects the game and puts up worthy numbers.